The Particulars
The Harvard women's hockey team begins ECAC Championship play as the No. 2 seed, facing off against Ivy League rival Princeton in a best-of-three series this weekend at Bright Hockey Center.

Series History
Princeton represents one of Harvard's oldest rivals, as the two teams have squared off 71 times since their first meeting during the 1978-79 season. Harvard maintains a lead in the all-time series with a 37-30-4 record against the Tigers, and has captured victories in eight of the last 14 meetings.

The Crimson and Tigers split the 2011-12 season series, with Harvard dropping the first game at Princeton by a 3-0 score. In the rematch at Bright, Harvard allowed the first goal again and entered the second period down 1-0. From there, Jillian Dempsey took over, scoring four of Harvard's seven goals in the period, including a streak of three straight for a natural hat trick, to propel the Crimson to a daunting 7-1 lead after two. Samantha Reber, Hillary Crowe and Dempsey all scored in the final frame to seal the 10-1 victory.

Last Time Out
The Crimson sealed up the No. 2 seed in the final ECAC standings, holding tight in a weekend sweep with victories over Brown (5-1) and Yale (4-0) to cap the regular season.

Sarah Edney started the scoring for the Crimson against the Bears, striking in the first period to give Harvard a 1-0 lead. Jillian Dempsey made it 2-0 just past the halfway point of the second, and Edney's second goal and a power-play tally from Kaitlin Spurling made it 4-0 after two. Lyndsey Fry added a fifth for Harvard after Brown got on the board, to seal the 5-1 win.

It was the Lyndsey Fry show Saturday against Yale, as the sophomore netted all four goals in the game, including a power-play tally and a shorthanded marker, in the 4-0 victory. Laura Bellamy was rock-solid in net, stopping 17 shots and logging her seventh shutout of the season.

Harvard ECAC Tournament History
The Crimson holds an all-time record of 33-16 in ECAC tournament action, dating back to 1987. Harvard didn't win its first ECAC playoff game until 1999, a 3-2 win over Cornell at Bright Hockey Center. The Crimson went on to capture the tournament title that year, the first of its five. Bright has hosted an ECAC quarterfinal series every year since 2002, and the Crimson has emerged victorious in every one of those series.

Against Tigers In The Tourney
This weekend's matchup represents the third time Harvard has faced Princeton in the ECAC quarterfinals. The first meeting was in 2002, and the Crimson skated to 3-2 and 3-1 wins before dropping a 4-2 contest to Dartmouth in the conference semifinals. The Crimson and Tigers also faced off in the 2010 league quarterfinals, and Harvard swept once again, registering 5-1 and 4-1 victories before dropping a 3-2 game at Clarkson in the semis. Harvard and Princeton have never met in the postseason beyond the quarterfinal round.

A Total Of 20
With wins against Brown and Yale last weekend, Harvard hit the 20-win mark in the regular season for the first time since 2007-08. Harvard has won 20 games in seven of its last 10 seasons, last hitting the 20-win mark in 2009-10. The Crimson now has 10, 20-win seasons in the program's history, all under current head coach Katey Stone. Harvard has finished at .500 or better 26 times in its 33-year history, including the current stretch of 13 straight winning seasons.

Patty Picks
Junior defenseman and assistant captain Josephine Pucci and classmate Jillian Dempsey have been named 2012 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award nominees, USA Hockey announced Monday. Dempsey and Pucci join 28 other candidates on the list for the prestigious award.

The 34 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey head coaches will select the top-10 finalists from among the group of 30 nominees, with the announcement taking place on March 1. A 13-member selection committee will choose the three finalists (announced March 8), as well as the award recipient, which will be announced live at the brunch ceremony in Duluth, Minn., on March 17.

Harvard has produced six Patty Kazmaier Award winners in the 14-year history of the award, including the only two-time winner Jennifer Botterill '02-03.

Break Out The Brooms
With wins over Brown and Yale last weekend, Harvard wrapped up its sixth and seventh series sweeps against ECAC opponents this season. Harvard has taken both games against Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Colgate, Rensselaer, Union, Brown and Yale this season. Harvard posted five season series sweeps against ECAC teams last season and six the year before.

Large Fry
Sophomore forward Lyndsey Fry enters the ECAC tournament as the No. 2 scorer on the Harvard roster. After missing the games at Brown and Boston University with a nagging injury, Fry has tallied 16 points in the seven games since. She posted five assists in the 10-1 win over Princeton, had a goal and two assists against Quinnipiac and added another helper in the loss to Boston College in the Beanpot consolation game.

She also netted a goal each against Rensselaer and Union, including the game-winner against the Dutchwomen. Last weekend, Fry collected a goal against the Bears before exploding for four goals against the Bulldogs. She enters the playoffs on a four-game goal-scoring streak.

Spreading The WealthHilary Hayssen collected her second assist of the season in Harvard's 4-2 win over Rensselaer Feb. 10. With Hayssen's helper, every Harvard position player on the 2011-12 roster has logged multiple points on the season. The last time every Harvard non-goalie had multiple points in a season was 2001-02. Twelve different players have scored goals this season, while all 16 skaters on the roster have logged at least one assist.

Lighting The Lamp
The Harvard offense posted 105 goals during the 2011-12 regular season (29 games). The last time Harvard broke the 100-goal barrier was during the 2007-08 season when it tallied 120 goals in 34 games. The Crimson closed the regular season with 79 goals in 22 ECAC games, the most since it recorded 81 in 2007-08.

Big Time Bellamy
After a stellar weekend in New Haven, Conn., and Providence, R.I., junior goalie Laura Bellamy was named ECAC Goalie of the Week Jan. 31. The honor marks the second time she has received the nod this season and third in her career.

Bellamy didn't allow a goal in 12-straight periods of ECAC play, the longest stretch of her career. The last time a Harvard goalie had a stretch of at least three-straight shutouts was 2007-08 when Christina Kessler '10 blanked Colgate (4-0), Boston College (7-0) and St. Lawrence (2-0) in consecutive contests.

Bellamy now has 14 shutouts in her career, placing her in third in program history. Bellamy also ranks tied for second for shutouts in a season with seven, tying Ali Boe '06 (2003-04). She is currently tied for second in the nation with three others ( Erica Howe, Clarkson/Noora Raty, Minnesota/Alex Rigsby, Wisconsin), in shutouts.

A Whole Lotta Dempsey
Jillian Dempsey's performance against Princeton Feb. 4 was one of the top single-game performances in Harvard history. Her five goals in the game were just one short of the NCAA record, held by former Harvard star Nicole Corriero '05 and Minnesota Duluth's Jenny Potter. In the history of the program, a Harvard player had only scored five goals in a game six times before Dempsey's showing. The last was 2008 Patty Kazmaier winner Sarah Vaillancourt '08-09, scoring a quintet against Cornell Feb. 9, 2007.

Dempsey entered the Princeton game with nine career two-goal games but had never collected a hat trick. The game against Princeton represents her fourth multi-goal game of the season. She enters the weekend riding a team-best nine-game point streak and has scored goals in four of her last six contests.

Power Period
The seven goals scored in the second period against Princeton Feb. 4 tied the NCAA record for goals in a period. It is the eighth time the feat has been accomplished in NCAA history, the last time being a game between Sacred Heart and Saint Michael's Jan. 11, 2006. It is the third time a Harvard team has netted seven goals in a single frame, and first since the Crimson did it to Boston College Jan. 28, 2003 in the first period. Harvard went on to score an NCAA-record 17 goals against the Eagles in that contest.